


Survival of the Carapaces

by aquatarius



Series: Super People Au [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Las Vegas, Super People Au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:12:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10593768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquatarius/pseuds/aquatarius
Summary: The carapaces, two races from the long lost planet Skaia, have more to do with Sburb and English than most people know. Snowman, Jack Noir and his crew, the Mayor, and more, all fight for the same end: Survival of their species on an alien planet - but in vastly different ways.Multi-chapter archive of my Cara stuff for my Super People Au.





	

 In the heart of Las Vegas, there was a tiny, hole-in-the-wall bar that was crammed between two casinos and backed up against a store selling things that weren’t quite legal but had yet to be caught. It was a dingy place, full of smoke and the smell of beer. A few humans, down on their luck, were there, but mostly, it was a place for Caras. (For Caras, by caras, was the word on the street.)

 

Jack leaned over a table. He was a cara, one of the refugees from Derse. One of the ones all Caras with a tiny amount of sense would avoid. He exhaled slowly, blowing out a mouthful of cigarette smoke, and rammed the pole in his hand against one of the pool balls. 

 

 It barely brushed the ball and he groaned. 

 

 “You’re still awful at that.” A deep, throaty voice that dripped with amusement informed him. 

 

 “What’s a broad like you doin’ in a place like this?” Jack asked, refusing to look up. He had seen the sight too many times - a derse queen who’d been forced into the same peasantry they all had after the war. A broad who towered over him and had one of the most shiny exoskeletons he’d ever seen. 

 

 “Didn’t you hear? The government is out for all of us. Derse, Prospit, Felt...We’re being rounded up and dropped off on the Raft.” Snowman said. “Thought maybe you and your wife would accept some help. Get the gang back together, Slick.”

 

 Jack looked up. Snowman was dressed simply, and looked scared. He didn’t like her looking scared. That meant that something very wrong was happening. And that something most certainly had nothing to do with the rumors that humans were rounding up caras. It was an oldie but a goodie, something that was passed around whenever caras wanted a stink or to scare each other. 

 

 Snowman was scared about something very real and very dangerous. And if  _ Snowman _ was scared. 

 

 “Don’t you got better stuff to do then pester me about getting the gang back together?  _ You’re _ the one who broke us up, remember?” He snapped. Fear bubbled up in his gut, hot and tight and twisting around his innards like a hot snake coiling around its dinner. 

 

 “Spades. Listen to me.”

 

 “I don’t want to.”

 

 “Don’t want to, or scared to?”

 

 “Snow, me and the missus...we’re off the grid.” Jack said. He set down the pole. “We ain’t in danger.” He didn’t believe his own words. If Snowman was in danger, or thought that  _ he _ was in danger, Jack was in danger. And so was Paint. 

 

 “It’s English.”

 

 Jack’s mouth went dry. His knees began to shake and he had to lean on the table. If he’d been one of the humans, all the color would’ve left his face. “What?” He misheard, that was all, he’d just...misheard. 

 

 “English is back. Someone else is in charge of the Agency. The tides are turning again. You, my dear, darling, short man, are going to be one of the first ones he comes after. You do know that, don’t you?” Snowball said. 

 

 “What about the Mayor?” Jack asked. It was a stupid question. A stupid, hopeless, throwback. The Mayor wouldn’t help them, not anymore. 

 

 “He went missing. Someone says the Doc had something to do with it, but…” She shook her head. Didn’t believe it. 

 

 “You know where the gang is?”

 

 “Diamonds is in France, last I heard. Hearts is serving in some army, along with Clubs.” She responded instantly, and dropped a couple pictures on the pool table. Candid snapshots of the boys in their natural habitats. “Diamonds is a reporter now, if you can believe it.”  

 

 Jack rubbed his forehead, and then fished out a new cigarette. The broad had done her research, no surprise there, nope, but just because she’d done her research didn't mean it was safe. But what would be safer, hiding alone or hiding with people who knew what to expect? 

 

 “If I go with you…” He started. 

 

 “No, not with me. You and your men will travel to a destination the Doc has picked out and meet there. You’ll wait in a randomly picked safe house until we find some place safe and semi-permanent to relocate you.” She said. It was too rehearsed; she’d been fed the lines. 

 

 “And if I say no?” Jack asked. He needed a drink. He needed one so bad.  _ Please _ , he thought,  _ don’t let Paint be watching _ . 

 

 “You won’t. It’s been foreseen that you and your men will go to this place.”

 

 “By who?” 

 

 Snowman smiled coolly. “Who else, Slick?”

 

“Doc’s a hack.”

 

 “He’s a hack who’s making sure you don’t die.” 

 

 “A rose by any other name….”

 

 “Don’t throw your life away because you can’t stand to have it saved by your ex.”

 

 “I threw my life away once. Do you remember that? I remember that. I remember how the Mayor saved it, the diplomatic fuck. He save all of us.” Jack said, anger and frustration making him growl his words. 

 

 “From you.” Snowball said. And that was it, it was that simple. Slick’s rebellion, his attempt to rule the Dersits and the Prospitians, and his failure, his failure at the hands of someone even more simple then he. “We all know the story, Slick. He saved us, he brought us to Earth, he brokered a peaceful life for us in exchange for information.” 

 

 Enough reminiscing. 

 

 “How bad is it?” Jack asked, and that gave her pause. He wasn’t sure if it was the sudden change in topic or the question itself. She stared at the table, and then dropped the stick on it. 

 

 “I wish the Mayor were here. I wish he could unite us, because us, with the humans, and everyone else. We might have a chance.”

 

 “Otherwise? What? We pray to God?”

 

 “Jack.” Snowball reached out and took his hand. “If English is coming back, there isn’t going to be a God to pray to by the time he’s done. Unless you’re praying to the God of Death.”

 

 “What the hell do you  _ want  _ from me?”

 

 “A promise.” 

 

 “Bitch, if you don’t-”

 

 “If the day comes when Doc needs you to help, you do it. No matter what it is. If it’s a suicide mission, you do it. No ifs, or, ands, or buts. In return, you get complete safety. English could nuke the place and he wouldn’t find you.” Snowball said, squeezing his hand. “It’s a good deal. Your talents, your team’s talents, are unique. If I need something stabbed, I’ll call you.”

 

 Jack exhaled slowly and ran a hand through his hair. 

 

 “Paint is pregnant. We can’t just uproot because English might be coming back and Doc thinks I’ll go to some place. Ain’t possible. Got a life now.” He said. Even as he said it, he could tell it wasn’t the truth. He’d be leaving. One way or another. 

 

_ Have to pack everything _ . He thought. Then he rolled his eyes at himself.  _ Pack everything of what? The couch? All I need is a suit and my knives.  _

 

 Snowman pressed the tip of a finger against Jack’s eyepatch and he winced. “He will be coming back. Count on it. Now, care to make this fun for me, or are you going to get in the car like a good boy?” She asked, voice dripping with faux sweetness. 

 

 “Bitch.” He spat. Then he turned, and walked towards Paint, who stood behind the bar and had indeed been watching. “Hey, hun.”

 

 “What is it?” 

 

 “I’ll tell you about it in the car. What do you need to blow this place? Forever?” He asked. Paint bit her lower lip. She understood. 

 

“Oh, not very much, but...Well, we have to, I suppose.” She ran a hand over her smooth skull and swallowed. “Can I have half an hour?”

 

 “Sweetheart, you can have all the time you need.” 

 

* * *

 

Half an hour later, Jack, Paint, and Snowman were crammed in the back seat of a car with two suitcases and a large purse. They were silent as they rode along in the car. Jack’s stomach twisted. He would see  _ them _ again, his closest friends. But at the potential cost of his life. And Paint, oh boy, once she figured out how bad it was...Well, Jack had been punched before by her, and he still had the scar on his lip. 

 

 He sighed, and pulled his hat over his eyes. 

  
 “Doc better be right.” He muttered. 

**Author's Note:**

> So! Caras. I made a post on my tumblr about these lil guys and it inspired stuff. They're gonna be pretty important in my homestuck Super People parts, I think, so I decided to give them their own place where I could dump only Homestuck cara stuff! 
> 
> The chapters probably won't be connected like a multi-chapter story. It'll just be a series of one shots about them in this universe. I'll add tags as I go along. I hope you guys enjoy, and please feel free to drop me a request at my blog! (http://aquatariuswrites.tumblr.com/)


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